Study Schedule for Repeaters

If you have previously taken the bar exam, your study schedule is not going to look the same as someone who is preparing for it for the first time.  Assuming that you sat for the previous administration of the exam, you should already have the substantive subject matter fresh in your mind.  In most cases, then, you will be able to completely skip substantive review, and work solely on practicing essays, PTs and MBEs (discussed here).

This is especially convenient because in most cases those who are repeating the exam have already secured a paid post-bar position which they either need or want to keep.  Additionally, the late notice of bar results means there is less time to prepare for the next exam.  The Goat's Guide approach wastes no time, so those who are in this position will get the absolute most value for their time.

The only time you would need to review the substantive material is if the reason you failed the exam is because you did not know or understand the law.  (Or if it has been a while since you last took the bar, in which case you would approach it as if you were taking it for the first time and do a full review.)  For the most part, knowing the law (memorization) will come naturally as you follow this approach.  Understanding the law, however, is something that comes from doing a good substantive review with quality materials that fully explain what the law is and how it operates.  If this is what you are missing, then you cannot skip the substantive review.  Perhaps you only need better understanding in one or two subjects - then you only need review those subjects.

If you are in a situation where you don’t need to spend much, if any, time doing a substantive review of the law, then you are going to work from the second study schedule that was presented in my post The Bar Exam Study Schedule for Self-Studiers.

{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}